The former secretary and grant administrator for an area drug task force was sentenced Monday to a year and a day in federal prison for embezzling more than $42,000 from the group over an almost six-year period beginning in 2005.

Pamela S. Watts, 45, of Riverton also was ordered by U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough to pay restitution in the amount of $42,186.

Watts was employed by the Central Illinois Enforcement Group, a drug task force composed of local and state law enforcement officers assigned to combat drug trafficking in Sangamon, Logan, Morgan, Mason and Christian counties. She was the only employee.

The officers, who primarily work undercover and use confidential sources to buy drugs to gather evidence and information to arrest drug dealers, are provided with vehicles, computers and credit cards for use while engaged in official business.

The CIEG is funded in part from a U.S. Department of Justice grant, and between Oct. 1, 2005, and Sept. 30, 2011, received more than $800,000 under the grant program.

The Sangamon County Board is responsible for administering the expenditure of grant funds to CIEG, which also received money from the sale of seized assets and from fine money assessed by state courts in criminal cases against people convicted of drug offenses.

It maintained separate bank accounts for grant funds, forfeiture funds and court fines. And it maintained several credit card accounts to pay expenses for CIEG officers.

Watts’ duties as secretary and grant administrator included managing CIEG’s bank accounts, Sam’s Club account and VISA credit card accounts, plus submitting invoices to the county board requesting the payment of expenses with grant funds.

On Oct. 16, Watts pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and one count of embezzlement, admitting that she wrote approximately $19,000 in checks from the task force’s court fines account to buy personal items, including food, swimming pool equipment, school supplies, a Sony PlayStation, gasoline and flowers.

Further, Watts wrote checks to herself in the amount of approximately $12,440 from the federal forfeiture account and about $3,518 from the state forfeiture account. Watts also admitted she used credit cards returned to her by officers no longer assigned to the task force to make more than $6,000 in personal purchases including concert tickets, ribeye steaks, and merchandise from Victoria Secret, MC Sporting Goods and Penny Lane.

Watts further admitted using CIEG funds to purchase cellphones for her children and for a laptop computer intended for use by a task force officer.

After completing her prison sentence, Watts will serve three years of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. attorney Gregory Harris prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Illinois State Police, FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General.